Page 120 - Štremfel, Urška, ed., 2016. Student (Under)achievement: Perspectives, Approaches, Challenges. Ljubljana: Pedagoški inštitut. Digital Library, Documenta 11.
P. 120
1985), interests (Hidi and Harackiewicz, 2000), the subjective value of tasks and
school subjects (Eccless et al., 1998).
Intrinsic motivation refers to personal, psychological reasons for individu-
als initiating an activity (Deci and Ryan, 1985). People who are intrinsically mo-
tivated perceive themselves as initiators of their own actions and do things
that will help them achieve their goals or fulfil their needs, whereas extrinsi-
cally motivated people are convinced they are participating because they are
expecting a reward or punishment, or because they want to please others. For
students who are intrinsically motivated it can be assumed that their goal is to
acquire knowledge which they find important and valued. Intrinsic motivation
is associated with an appropriate difficulty of tasks (Urdan and Turner, 2007)
and higher academic achievement (Wigfield and Eccles, 2002). Intrinsic moti-
vation can be derived from the needs for competence and perceived auton-
omy (Deci and Ryan, 1985), but also from an interest in specific contents or an
activity (Renninger, 2000).
Interest can be related to a situation, i.e. short-term, situation-specific at-
tention, oriented towards certain contents, or it can also signify individuals’
120 more long-term orientation and their readiness to participate in a certain ac-
tivity and their personal interest (Hidi and Harackiewicz, 2000). Personal inter-
est involves emotions associated with a specific field (e.g. I like it, I’m enjoying
myself ) and value (the significance of a certain field resulting from its useful-
ness and personal relevance) (Linnenbrink-Garcia and Fredricks, 2008). Ado-
lescents who express a stronger interest in specific content and activity are-
as evaluate these areas more highly and work on them more intensely (Hidi,
1990). Adolescents who take a greater interest in specific subject fields have
better academic achievement in these areas (Wigfield and Eccles, 2002).
Subjective task value (according to the expectancy-value theory, Eccles et
al., 1983) is the motive that allows an individual to perform a certain task – in-
dividuals perform tasks to which they assign a positive value and avoid those
to which they assign a negative value. Task value refers to the perceived task
quality, which contributes to an increase or decrease in the likelihood that an
individual will choose it. Task value consists of the following four components:
1) intrinsic value - enjoyment or interest (expected satisfaction in performing
the task); 2) attainment value - importance for identity or self (a belief that the
task needs to be performed well for one’s self-image to be validated); 3) utility
value - usefulness or relevance (significance of the task in achieving an individ-
uals’ long-term goals and extrinsic rewards – immediate or long-term); 4) costs
(negative task aspects; how opting for an activity will limit the possibility of en-
gaging in other activities; the proportion of effort to satisfaction in relation to
an activity). Subjective task value, i.e. the interest, or a high level of desire for
learning, prompts positive emotional experiences, self-respect, control-orient-
ed coping with failure and high learning outcomes and the use of appropri-
student (under)achievement: perspectives, approaches, challenges
school subjects (Eccless et al., 1998).
Intrinsic motivation refers to personal, psychological reasons for individu-
als initiating an activity (Deci and Ryan, 1985). People who are intrinsically mo-
tivated perceive themselves as initiators of their own actions and do things
that will help them achieve their goals or fulfil their needs, whereas extrinsi-
cally motivated people are convinced they are participating because they are
expecting a reward or punishment, or because they want to please others. For
students who are intrinsically motivated it can be assumed that their goal is to
acquire knowledge which they find important and valued. Intrinsic motivation
is associated with an appropriate difficulty of tasks (Urdan and Turner, 2007)
and higher academic achievement (Wigfield and Eccles, 2002). Intrinsic moti-
vation can be derived from the needs for competence and perceived auton-
omy (Deci and Ryan, 1985), but also from an interest in specific contents or an
activity (Renninger, 2000).
Interest can be related to a situation, i.e. short-term, situation-specific at-
tention, oriented towards certain contents, or it can also signify individuals’
120 more long-term orientation and their readiness to participate in a certain ac-
tivity and their personal interest (Hidi and Harackiewicz, 2000). Personal inter-
est involves emotions associated with a specific field (e.g. I like it, I’m enjoying
myself ) and value (the significance of a certain field resulting from its useful-
ness and personal relevance) (Linnenbrink-Garcia and Fredricks, 2008). Ado-
lescents who express a stronger interest in specific content and activity are-
as evaluate these areas more highly and work on them more intensely (Hidi,
1990). Adolescents who take a greater interest in specific subject fields have
better academic achievement in these areas (Wigfield and Eccles, 2002).
Subjective task value (according to the expectancy-value theory, Eccles et
al., 1983) is the motive that allows an individual to perform a certain task – in-
dividuals perform tasks to which they assign a positive value and avoid those
to which they assign a negative value. Task value refers to the perceived task
quality, which contributes to an increase or decrease in the likelihood that an
individual will choose it. Task value consists of the following four components:
1) intrinsic value - enjoyment or interest (expected satisfaction in performing
the task); 2) attainment value - importance for identity or self (a belief that the
task needs to be performed well for one’s self-image to be validated); 3) utility
value - usefulness or relevance (significance of the task in achieving an individ-
uals’ long-term goals and extrinsic rewards – immediate or long-term); 4) costs
(negative task aspects; how opting for an activity will limit the possibility of en-
gaging in other activities; the proportion of effort to satisfaction in relation to
an activity). Subjective task value, i.e. the interest, or a high level of desire for
learning, prompts positive emotional experiences, self-respect, control-orient-
ed coping with failure and high learning outcomes and the use of appropri-
student (under)achievement: perspectives, approaches, challenges
